Home At Last.

We're home! After 5 planes in 2 days, I am one exhausted girl. I could go a long time without seeing the inside of an airport.

I can't tell you how happy I am to be here. No more kababs (even the most delicious things get old after eating them every meal for days in a row). No more squat toilets (yes, I wrote that down. You have no idea how lucky we are in America.) People who speak the same language (totally rare in Turkey. I saw maybe three Americans the entire trip). And being able to sleep in my own bed.

Although, when did it get so cold here? One day I was in sunny and 75 degree weather in Ephesus and today the snow and ice abound. It's going to take some getting used to. Also, maybe because I was traveling all through Thanksgiving I'm not quite ready for Christmas. If you run into me and I'm bundled up like an Eskimo, you know that I am not yet acclimated to the weather.

I promise to update the blog with some fun stories from our trip (and there are some great ones) when I can get over this jetlag and catch up with some of the projects from school.

Small and Simple

I took this picture last week. I know, it looks like I was driving but it was just too beautiful to let pass. These are probably some of the last in town.

I'd say winter is officially here. Which is not too bad, it means that Christmas is just around the corner and all of the friends and fun that brings. It means that my allergies will finally get a break, yay! And it means that another semester is coming to an end.

Change is an inevitable thing in our lives. I think we spend a lot of our lives wishing for things, saying that I'll be happy and enjoy life when I get to a certain accomplishment or point. I'm slowly learning the value of the journey, of patiently looking to small moments and finding joy.

So the question I pose to all of you is...what is one of those small moments for you? Where do you find joy?

Head Banging and Pumpkin Booming

The Halloween season ended with a bang this weekend. Not a headbang as it would appear here but a real bang.

I've got to throw in a few pictures from Halloween before all the stuff from this weekend. Yes, we actually dressed up. Here we are.

Notice the nose ring. So hot.

Me with the Owls. Carly and her new babe.


A truly excited trick or treater.

and the whole crowd of darling niece and nephews, with some friends.

Now on to this weekend. Since winter is so long here, we had to do something to celebrate the end of fall and we did it with a bang on Saturday. I finally visited Weston Idaho, the neighbor of Napoleon Dynamite's hometown. How have I gone my whole life not visiting?

Our friends from the ward invited us up to witness the annual pumpkin blow. I'm not sure if that is it's technical name but we sure enjoyed ourselves. Here we are with the pile before.

And here we are after a case of dynamite has done it's work.

Here's the video. Yes, I am so happy I caught this on tape. Heb is the one laughing at the end. You can tell he loved it. Is this not the coolest tradition ever!!

Thank you for letting us join the other hundred people to witness this great event. Could we please come back next year?

Last Night...

was awesome! My sister called me at 6:00 with free tickets to "So You Think You Can Dance" down in SLC. How could I turn her down? The tickets were for one of the luxury suites, now I see how the other side lives.

I was expecting a quiet night of dance rehearsal and homework (I know, my life is pretty darn exciting). I called my other sister to take the second ticket and hopped right in my car, I didn't even stop to touch up makeup.

It was pretty spontaneous. I'm not one for a lot of spontaneity. I'm usually the one that does what they're supposed to but for once I skipped practice and did something really fun. My sister and I had the best time watching and commenting on the dancing and talking together. Thanks for coming Loni.

The dancing was unbelievable. It's been a while since I've seen real dancing in person. The lines, extension, emotion... I could go on and on. It gave me the boost I needed to make it through the last few weeks of this semester. I've been a tad bit burned out (if you've talked to me in the last few days, you would have seen this).

Also, can I make one side note here? Did you realize that the show winner was a high school senior with everything going for her? As happy as I am for her, I almost wish it had gone to someone who had to struggle a bit before. Maybe it's the realist in me.

Thank you Carly and Jay for the tickets! Thanks to Mom Lawrence for watching the kids so Loni could come and watch the show with me.

All I can say is get out and do something spontaneous. It'll do wonders for your week!